CDOT Promotes Alcohoot, Uber

People hanging out in LoDo (the lower downtown district of Denver) and Rockies attendees can test out and have a chance to win the Alcohoot smartphone breathalyzer in Denver this Friday and Saturday, as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has announced in a press release. In addition, people in LoDo and at the Rockies can win discounted and free Uber rides home, CDOT writes. The department is hosting these Labor Day weekend events in downtown Denver, in partnership with Alcohoot and Uber, to encourage drinkers to use these technologies, which can help reduce drinking and driving.

Alcohoot is one of the leading personal breathalyzers, and Uber is the largest ride-hailing service in the world, CDOT writes. Widespread use of personal breathalyzers gives people throughout Colorado the ability to make safe and responsible decisions when they are drinking; and ride-hailing apps make it possible for drinkers to avoid impaired driving altogether, and to get from place to place safely, CDOT writes. “Everyone knows drinking and driving is bad, yet people still do it,” said Sam Cole, CDOT’s Safety Communications Manager.

Here is the schedule for the Alcohoot and Uber events:

On Friday, Sept. 4, and Saturday, Sept. 5, the event will be at the LoDo parking lot at 20th St. and Market St. from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 6, the event will be inside Coors Field at Section 113 during the Rockies game, and after the game at the designated Uber pickup and drop-off lot located at 22nd St. and Blake St. (Coors Field MVP Lot.)

Labor Day Campaign

CDOT is also launching “A Few Can Still Be Dangerous,” its DUI awareness campaign, which coincides with its Labor Day DUI enforcement period. The campaign is designed to remind 21- to 35-year-old males (the group most at risk of driving impaired) that even if a person has had only a few drinks, that does not mean it is safe to drive, CDOT writes.

‘By embracing advances in sensor technology and transportation, the State of Colorado has again proven itself to be a leader in the effort to reduce impaired driving by combining education and technology.’

CDOT’s Labor Day enforcement period in 2014 resulted in 1,102 arrests throughout the state, from 95 participating law enforcement agencies, CDOT writes. In 2014, 165 people lost their lives in DUI-related car accidents, CDOT writes.

Options Available

Because Denver has many transportation options, drinking and driving should never be one of them, said Will McCollum, general manager of Uber Colorado. To get home after drinking, people only need to tap a button to hail an Uber car, he said.

In a related news item, Jordan Steffen writes for The Denver Post that CDOT expects heavy traffic on Interstate 70 during Labor Day weekend. Officials expect the heaviest traffic on I-70 from Denver to Summit County, Steffen writes. CDOT estimates that 2.4 people will travel to the mountain region.